The Mechanic Next Door

Gentle, not so little, Giants

         "The closest stop to us on the map is the Gentle Giants petting zoo. Do you guys wanna do that?" Zara asked. "I wanna see everything!" Gray cheered nearly ripping the map out of her hands. The boy studied it for a minute. "Come on let's go!" He exclaimed. Zara's phone rang. "Hello?" She began. Zach shot a look at Jonny. The teens shared a look of annoyance. Zara's expression changed to a relaxed state. "Oh hey! I'm great how are you?" She asked. "Are you kidding me" Zach spat. Jonny almost laughed. "What the fu-". Gray was getting anxious. "Come on!" He whined. The teens followed Gray so he would calm down. The uninterested nanny followed the boys from behind. "Zanex is pissing me off" Jonny said. Zach nodded his head in agreement.           They arrived at the petting zoo. It was a large enclosure swarmed with little kids, parents and baby dinosaurs. The kids rode on the backs of the bigger herbivores and others hugged the growing Sauropods. Off to the side there was a park ranger educating a group of children on a baby Gallimimus. "Lift me up! I can't see!" Cried Gray trying Peer into the enclosure behind a crowd of people. "I'm not dad and you're not 5" Zach spat rolling his eyes. "I can still ride the triceratops! I'm 47 and a half inches!" The boy panted as he took photos of the exhibit. Jonny shot a look at Zach and chuckled. "He doesn't give up" he said to the older Mitchell. Zach shook his head. "This Place is for little kids". Gray turned around. "Yeah I know. Can we go on the spinning dinosaur eggs?" He asked hopefully. "Nope" Zach huffed. He didn't want to be seen on little kids rides. Jonny turned to look a sign that showed all the exhibits of the park. "Cover up your dork pouch" Zach insulted. "Hey, why don't we take him to the T-Rex show?" Jonny suggested pointing at the map. Zach looked to see where Zara was. "That bitch is still on the phone??" He asked Jonny. "Are you shocked?" He shot back sarcastically. Gray came back to join them.
          "Run! Scatter!" Zach exclaimed. Gray and Jonny ran into the crowd. Zach followed. Jonny couldn't see Gray or Zach. "Shit" he muttered. The boy lost his friends. Suddenly, he got grabbed by someone with a grey sleeve. It was Zach. "Thanks for the save" Jonny laughed. He noticed Zach didn't let go of his hand. It took all the willpower within to stop him from getting red. "Wouldn't want something to happen to ya" Zach replied, staring into his ocean blue eyes. "Wow he actually cares about someone" Jonny spat sarcastically. "Oh and you can let go of my hand now." Zach reddened and let go. He knew Jonny was teasing him. "Is he flirting with me?" Jonny thought, running his hands through his spiked hair. Honestly, he didn't want Zach to let go.
         The smell of street food created an aroma in the air as they passed through Main Street. There was a huge arch that said "T-Rex Kingdom" in the original Jurassic Park letters. "Oh my god! It's T-Rex come on!" Gray yelled jumping up and down. "We're coming!" Zach yelled back. "Wow" Jonny said as they walked under the arch. They entered a tunnel sculpted like a giant log that had torches on the outside. Greens covered the surrounding area. Rexy's roar echoed in the distance. It gave everyone goosebumps. They went further into the dark tunnel til they reached a small window. A group of people gathered around it. The enclosure was quiet. Too quiet. A goat was chained up below. Suddenly, a flair was thrown in the goats direction. Red smoke filled the air. "Eat it! Eat it! Eat it!" Chanted the crowd. Gray squeezed through everyone to get the best view. Jonny joined him. The T-Rex peered out of the treeline with a thud from every step it took. She came up to the glass opening her massive jaws. The creature was covered in various shades of brown with white scars. Jonny could count the scales from how close she was. It almost brought a tear to his eye. She was beautiful. Rexy devoured the goat.
           As the crowd cheered Zach's phone rang. "Keep an eye on him" Zach pointed out to Jonny as he took the call. "Hey mom" Zach answered. "You were supposed to call me when you landed... are you having fun?" She asked. "Yeah.. yes, aunt Claire gave us passes so we don't have to wait in line" he replied. "Wait she's not with you?" Karen questioned. "No but apparently we're seeing her later tonight. I doubt it though" the teen said sarcastically. "Okay well I'll talk to you later, have fun and be safe!". Zach hung up.
           "Everything good?" Jonny asked walking back over. Just watching him stand there made his heart beat a little faster. "Yeah it was just mom checking in. But we should get going to our next stop" Zach answered. Gray joined them. "That was so freaking cool!" The younger Mitchell cheered. Jonny patted him on the back.

          "The mosasaurus feeding show begins in 20 minutes" spoke an automated voice.

            "Well then let's hit it" Jonny stammered, exiting the T-Rex Kingdom. "I've been dying to check that out!". The group headed to the end of Main Street while Rexy's infamous roar could still be heard in the distance.